Planting Cannabis Seeds

Do you want all of your valuable seeds to sprout?
Sprouting seeds is easy. This page teaches you how.

Some preliminary remarks:

It's very important that your tools are clean. Plants can get diseases
from unclean tools, so wash the tools, trays, etc. with anti-bacterial soap.

Make sure that your clothes and hair don't have any bugs on them that want
to eat plants. In other words, don't go walking in the woods and then right
afterwards planting seeds in your clean growroom.

Seeds sprout the best when the humidity is high, about 60-70%. The
temperature should be around 25 Centigrade.

The following 2 sections teach you how to plant seeds. The first section
is about planting seeds for use in hydroponic systems. The second section is
about planting seeds in soil. The two sections are fairly similar, except
for some minor points that have to do with the specific medium.

1. Hydro

Whether you grow in rockwool, perlite, or another medium, it is easiest to
start the seeds in rockwool cubes.

You can buy plastic trays with pre-cut rockwool cubes, or you can purchase
a big slab of rockwool and cut off small cubes of 1 inch thick and 2 inches
tal. Put them in small cups. Make sure that each cup has a hole for
drainage, otherwise the roots will rot.

Make a hole in the top of each rockwool cube, wide enough to drop a seed
in, about half an inch deep. Water the cubes thoroughly, letting excess
water run off.

Drop the seeds in the holes, one seed per hole.

Put the cubes under fluorescents lights. It doesn't have to be strong
light, 40 Watts will do. Hang the lights 2-3 inches above the cubes. This
will provide maximum exposure to the light, and the warmth generated by the
lights will facilitate sprouting. Keep the lights on all day and night.

Make sure that the room temperature is about 25 C or 90 F. If necessary,
buy a heating mat from a gardening store and put it under the cups or tray.

After several days, the seeds will sprout.

When the seeds sprout, check daily that the lights are high enough over
the seedlings. If necessary, raise the lights to give the seedlings room. At
this stage, they grow very fast.

About 3-5 days after the seeds sprout, the roots will show through the
bottom of the rockwool cube. This is the right time to transplant the
seedlings. Prepare a bigger slab of rockwool by cutting out a space for the
cube and water the rockwool thoroughly. Use tepid water so that the seedling
won't get a shock. Carefully take the rockwool cube out of its paper cup or
other holder, making sure that you don't touch the roots that poke through
the cube and that the roots don't get damaged in any other way, such as
rubbing the cube against the cup. Place the cube into the hole that you cut
out in the big rockwool slab. If at this stage you discover that the hole is
not big enough, don't try to press the cube into the hole. Instead, gently
remove the cube and make the hole bigger.

Make sure that the small cube does not sink in the hole lower than the
rest of the surface. The small cube should rather stick out a bit. This
prevents stem rot, which otherwise might occur if water can form a puddle at
the base of the stem.

After the transplanting you can start adding nutrients to the water. There
are special mixes for seedlings and transplanted plants. If you use
nutrients that are not specifically for seedlings, use half the dosage.

2. Soil

In general, plants don't like it when hey are transplanted to a different
medium than what they are used to. It will give them a shock, so they will stop
growing until they get used to the new soil. It is best to keep that in mind
from the start.

You can start seeds in several ways. You can use peat cups filled with the
same soil mix that you will use for growing the plants to maturity. Peat cups
are made of pressed peat and come in different sizes. The roots of the seedling
will simply grow through the cup so there is no need to remove the cup when you
transplant them.

Another method is a peat pill. These are round, pressed pieces of peat that
you soak in water. They will swell up until 4 times its size.

In this chapter, I will use the word 'cup' for both the peat cup and the peat
pill.

Wet the cup throroughly, letting excess water run off.

Make a small hole in the top of the soil in the peat cup, or in the top
the peat pill, about half an inch deep, wide enough to drop a seed in.

Drop the seeds in the holes, one seed per hole. Put the cups on a tray
that lets excess water run off.

Put the cups under fluorescents lights. It doesn't have to be strong
light, 40 Watts will do. Hang the lights 2-3 inches above the top of the
tray. This will provide maximum exposure to the light, and the warmth
generated by the lights will facilitate sprouting. Keep the lights on all
day and night.

Make sure that the room temperature is about 25 C or 90 F. If necessary,
buy a heating mat from a gardening store and put it under the tray. After
several days, the seeds will sprout.

Check twice a day if the medium is moist enough. If you touch the dirt or
peat with your finger and it feels moist, it is moist enough. If it feels
dry to the touch, add a bit of water, letting excess water run off. Do not
soak the cup thoroughly, because the seed might start to rot. Just a bit of
water should do. The water should be tepid, not cold. Cold water provides a
nasty shock to the sprouting seeds, adding stress and possibly delay
sprouting. Do not add any nutrients at this point. Just plain, tepid water.

When the seeds sprout, check daily that the lights are high enough over
the seedlings. If necessary, raise the lights to give the seedlings room. At
this stage, they grow very fast.

About 3-5 days after the seeds sprout, the roots will show through the
bottom of the cup. This is the right time to transplant the seedlings.
Prepare a cannabis with the dirt mix of your choice. Water the cannabis thoroughly,
letting excess water run off. Use tepid water so that the seedling won't get
a shock. Make a hole in the middle of the cannabis, big enough to fit the cup in.
Carefully pick up the cup, making sure that you don't touch the roots that
poke through the cup and that the roots don't get damaged in any way, such
as rubbing the cup against anything. Place the cup into the hole that you
dug in the dirt. If at this stage you discover that the hole is not big
enough, don't try to press the cup into the hole. Instead, gently remove the
cup and make the hole bigger.

Make sure that the cup does not sink in the hole lower than the rest of
the surface. The cup should rather stick out a bit. This prevents stem rot,
which otherwise might occur if water can form a puddle at the base of the
stem.

After the transplanting you can start adding nutrients to the water. There
are special mixes for seedlings and transplanted plants. If you use
nutrients that are not specifically for seedlings, use half the dosage.